Autumn may be the “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” (Keats) but according to our stats, October is the peak month for wildlife related claims.

Using a sample of 2,000 glass claims since 2019, where a customer has specified an animal was involved, unsurprisingly, 57% of these are recorded under ‘bird’, while 29% are due to an unfortunate ‘pheasant’ and for nearly 12% it’s a ‘pigeon’. More unusual are the 17 claims involving a ‘peacock’ and two linked to a ‘chicken’.

In terms of jobs volumes, it’s the Tweeddale area in Scotland which has had the largest proportion of glass claims related to wildlife, nearly double that of the next in the list, Orkney. It’s followed by Perth, then the first locations in England, Harrogate and Salisbury.

James Reynolds, Auto Windscreens’ Commercial and Sales Director, said: “In 2017 researchers from the University of Exeter found pheasants, as captive, bred birds, are 12 times more likely than other species to be killed on the roads, with the peak being October when “they start to disperse from their release pens” - www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-41487536. I’m afraid we have no such explanations for the peacocks or chickens!

“With the nights drawing in and the weather likely to become more unsettled, making road conditions tricky, we’d urge all drivers to be extra vigilant to any hazard, particularly wildlife, at this time of year.”